Alan is an Irish writer for drama and comedy for television, radio and theatre. Alan has original television drama series in development with BBC Studios, and Antihero Entertainment in the US. He is also a regular writer for the Channel 4 continuing drama Hollyoaks and wrote the episode that won the 2022 British Soap Award for best scene. In addition, he has written for the Dark Shadows series of audio dramas for Big Finish Productions as well as their Doctor Who audio series. He co-created the successful Dark Shadows: Bloodlust miniseries and has since written, script edited and co-produced on subsequent series along with being head writer for the DS specials series Quentin & Maggie and Tony & Cassandra.
Alan is also an award-winning playwright. His latest play, The Silver Bell, is being performed in February as part of the VAULT Festival 2023, following acclaimed runs at the Edinburgh Fringe, King’s Head Theatre in London, and the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. He is currently adapting his previous plays Bingo as a half-hour comedy / drama series, and Eyes. Teeth. Soil. for the screen.
Website: www.alanflanagan.com
| Television (broadcast): | |
|---|---|
| Hollyoaks | Lime Pictures / Channel 4 Writer for the popular Channel 4 drama from 2019 Over 40 x 30’ episodes commissioned |
| Television (in development): | |
|---|---|
| Papertrail | BBC Studios Productions Returning crime series in development. 1 x 60 mins script optioned |
| Shuffle | Antihero Entertainment Returning sci-fi / mystery drama. 1 x 60 mins script optioned |
| Audio drama: | |
|---|---|
| Doctor Who | Big Finish Productions Writer The Jabari Countdown (1 x 60 mins) Downward Spiral (1 x 30 mins) |
| Confessions of Dorian Gray | Big Finish Productions Writer Christmas Special: All Through the House (1 x 60 mins) |
| Dark Shadows: Thirteen | Big Finish Productions Writer and Co-producer for this 13-episode sequel to Dark Shadows: Windcliff Writer: 7 x 40 mins; Producer / Script Editor: 13 x 40 mins (In production) |
| Dark Shadows: Windcliff | Big Finish Productions Script Editor for this 13-episode sequel to Dark Shadows: Bloodline. Script Editor: 13 x 40 mins (In production) |
| Dark Shadows: Bloodline | Big Finish Productions Co-creator and Co-writer of this 13-episode sequel series to Dark Shadows: Bloodlust. Writer: 4 x 40 mins |
| Dark Shadows: Bloodlust | Big Finish Productions Co-creator and Co-writer of the miniseries based on the 1970s US television series Dark Shadows. A 13-episode serialised season featuring two dozen characters which became an Amazon bestseller and was shortlisted for BBC Audio Drama of the Year. Writer: 5 x 40 mins |
| Dark Shadows: Tony & Cassandra | Big Finish Productions Head Writer and Script Supervisor for the 12-episode character specials series. Writer: 2 x 60 mins |
| Dark Shadows: Quentin & Maggie | Big Finish Productions Head Writer and Script Supervisor for the 4-episode character specials series. Writer: 1 x 60 mins |
| Dark Shadows | Big Finish Productions Script Editor and Writer for the Dark Shadows audiobook series based on the US television series of the same name from the 1970s with the new audio stories now performed by the original cast. Writer: 1 x 60 mins; Script Editor: 12 x 60 mins |
| Theatre: | |
|---|---|
| The Silver Bell | Jessie Anand Productions Writer / Actor – King’s Head Theatre, London (2022) Premiering at the King’s Head Theatre, Alan’s two-hander about lost love and traveling between parallel worlds to get it back has since run as part of the Edinburgh Fringe, The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival and will be performed as part of the VAULT Festival 2023. |
| Eyes. Teeth. Soil. | Fabricate Productions. Writer – Pleasance London (2021) When Bláithín Rourke does a terrible, terrible thing her life fractures in an instant and she must deal with the curse which follows. |
| Bingo | SLAM Productions / Refractive Lens Theatre Writer / Actor – Pleasance Theatre / International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival (2018/2019) Cormac’s life in a run-down squat on a zero hours contract somehow gets even worse when he visits the STI clinic – and discovers that he truly is the man who has everything. WINNER: Best New Writing – International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2019 NOMINATED: Best Actor; Identity in Theatre Award; and Intercultural Dialogue Award – IDGTF, 2019 |
| Everyone’s Dead! | Refractive Lens Theatre Writer / Actor Edinburgh Fringe (2016) The end of the world has been and gone, and after sneezing disease Speckles wipes out eight billion people the only survivors are best friends Liz and Seamus – so they decide to record an oral history of the apocalypse as a very unusual podcast. |
| Dupont & Davenport | Refractive Lens Theatre Writer / Actor Edinburgh Fringe / Dublin Gay Theatre Festival (2014/2016) David falls madly in love with Joe, and then Joe has the temerity to get killed in a car wreck. Now David’s left to pick up the pieces of a man he never truly never knew, and to find out what happens when ‘boy meets boy’ becomes ‘boy meets end’. |
| Other television work in development: | |
|---|---|
| Bingo | A comedy / drama adaptation of Alan’s stage show following the life of a gay man dealing with the sudden revelation that he’s contracted all the STIs. |
| Psychosomatic | A band of Irish expats travel to a retreat in the country to deal with their messy psychological problems. But on returning home after a disturbing long weekend, they find that their problems have followed them and now in a new and more physical form. 1 x 60’ Limited series horror spec script |
| 77 York Way | A putrid London flatshare becomes all the more unbearable when the residents open the door to face their time-travelling selves – they’ve come from the future, they need a place to stay, and their names are on the lease. 1 x 30’ Comedy spec script |
| Short film: | |
|---|---|
| The Charm | Blind Eye Films Writer / Director The story of a relationship told over a decade as Fiona (Laura Whitmore – ITV) and Leo (Brendan O’Rourke – Game of Thrones) jostle in and out of break-ups, unable to quite let go of one another. |
| Garvey & Sayers | Robert Greens Productions Writer / Actor A friendship told as a love story, Garvey & Sayers follows best friends Tim and Rob through first meeting, moving in together, and the inevitable question of how long a friendship can really survive. |
| The Red Line | What Elephant Productions Writer This adaptation of the Charlie Higson short story follows three lost strangers through the streets of London – until they meet with tragic consequences. Screened At: Cork Film Festival, Calgary International Film Festival, Molodist International Film Festival |
| Super Brainy Zombies | Chewing Sand Productions Writer A group of narcissistic film-makers have their zombie film interrupted by actual zombies. Screened At: BFI Future Film Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, YouTube (200,000 views) |
| Awards & nominations: | |
|---|---|
| Winner: Scene of the Year (Hollyoaks, Misbah Didn’t Consent) – British Soap Awards, 2022 (writer of the episode) |
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| Winner: Best Actor (The Silver Bell) – International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, 2022 (shared with Brenan O’Rourke) | |
| Winner: Best New Writing (Bingo) – International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, 2019 | |
| Winner: Best New Writing (Billy Redden) – International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, 2010 | |
| Nominated: Best Actor; Identity in Theatre Award; and Intercultural Dialogue Award (Bingo) – International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, 2019 | |
| Nominated: Best New Writing (I Run, I Sing, I Swim, I Dive) – International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival, 2013 | |
| Shortlisted: Best Online Audio Drama (Dark Shadows: Bloodlust) – BBC Audio Drama Awards, 2016 | |
| Longlisted: Writer – Old Vic New Voices, 2015 |
| Professional training: | |
|---|---|
| Goldsmiths, University of London, MA in Scriptwriting (2012 – 2013) | |
| Second City Toronto, Improvised Comedy Training & Sketch Comedy Writing (2011 – 2012) |